1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to a swing training and muscle exercising device which assists the user in developing a full range of motion swing enabling the user to consistently and efficiently transfer power at the instant of contacting a stationary object, such as a golf club to a golf ball. Persistent usage of the device can strengthen the muscles used in the swing and also reinforce myoneural "muscle memory." Although the principles of the invention can be adapted to other sports or activities where a swinging motion is employed, the preferred embodiment is adapted for use as a golf swing training device. Consequently, the preferred embodiment of the invention described herein is directed to a golf swing training and exercising device.
The optimum golf swing provides for maximum distance and accuracy of the golf shot. This is achieved when the golf swing maintains an appropriate swing plane along a determinable inside and outside swing path (inside of the parallel plane of a line directed through the golf ball to the target). The body's muscles create, store and release energy squarely to a golf ball. The physiological components of the optimum golf swing include physical agility, flexibility, strength, power, muscular endurance, balance, coordination, leverage through good posture and hand-to-eye coordination. When all of these physical attributes are integrated with the optimum golf swing mechanics, maximum club head speed and transference of energy to a golf ball is realized.
The optimum golf swing is a fluid timed motion which optimizes power, coordination and speed of a user's swing to deliver an impact to the ball to achieve desired distance and accuracy. This motion is linked through eight critical phases of movement.
Executing an ideal, total, full-range of motion golf swing entails performing complex combinations of separate motions, or portions, during eight sequential phases: (1) the set-up phase, (2) the takeaway phase, (3) the top of the swing phase, (4) the downswing phase, (5) the hitting zone phase, (6) the impact phase, (7) the release phase, and (8) the follow-through phase.
1. The Set-Up Phase
The first phase, the set-up phase, is the initial stance the golfer takes to strike the ball as illustrated in FIG. 18. An effective set-up requires balance and effective posture to set the trunk and limbs of the body in the most mechanically advantageous position with the body weight slightly favoring the left foot in the right to left golf swing. In the set-up phase, the golfer aligns the club head with the ball and a pre-selected target as illustrated by the imaginary line 113 in FIG. 18. Imaginary line 113 defines two regions. The first region is the side of the line on which the golfer stands facing the ball. This first region is referred to as the "inside," and the region on the opposite side of line 113 is referred to as the "outside." Thus, when a golfer's swing is described as an "inside to outside" swing, the club head travels in a path, termed the "swing path," from the inside region before impact with the ball, to impact with the ball at line 113, and then in a path in the outside region after impact.
2. The Takeaway Phase Or Backswing
In the second phase, the takeaway phase, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the golfer shifts the body weight to favor the right foot and initiates the backswing with the large muscles of the legs and trunk. A triangle formed by the position of shoulders and hands allows the golfer to perform a one-piece takeaway, drawing the club back along the appropriate swing plane to match the selected golf club and along a determinable inside-to-outside or outside-to-inside swing path. The swing plane(s) are illustrated in FIG. 15 as the planes in which the golfer's hands move 560 and the plane in which the club head moves 570 comprising two parallel planes. The swing plane is dependent upon the individual anatomical variants of the golfer and the selected club length. The taller golfer will stand closer to the ball and therefore have a steeper swing plane. The shorter club will also require the golfer to stand closer to the ball and thereby require a steeper swing plane as illustrated in FIG. 15, the angle .varies. between the planes 560 and 570 with the horizontal become larger as the swing planes 560 and 570 become more upright.
3. The Swing Phase
In the third phase of the swing, the top of the swing phase, the club is posted with the club shaft approximately parallel to the ground, as seen in FIG. 20, and the club head pointing back directly at the target. The left arm remains relatively straight and the right arm is folded at the elbow. The back forearm is supinated, i.e., rotated counterclockwise for a right-handed golfer or rotated clockwise for a left-handed golfer, and the front forearm is pronated, i.e., rotated clockwise for a right-handed golfer or rotated counterclockwise for a left-handed golfer. In the right-handed golfer, the right wrist is cocked back in extension. The golfer's body coils wherein the shoulders have turned back more than twice as much as the hips which are turned back more than twice as much as the knees. The body has been wound from the top down with the upper body turned back against the resistance of the lower body and poised to enter phase four, the downswing phase.
4. The Downswing Phase
In the downswing phase, the club is pulled into action by the uncoiling of the large muscles of the body. It is the timely unwinding of the downswing phase, while maintaining the appropriate swing plane and predetermined swing path, that produces the optimum golf swing. Pulling the club out of the swing path alters the angle at which the club head meets the ball and thereby alters the flight path of the ball. It is therefore important for a golfer to develop a consistent swing path within a consistent swing plane to achieve optimum results. A further problem that occurs during the downswing phase is referred to as casting of the club, wherein the angle formed between the club and the two arms is drastically increased. Casting the club results in a deviation from the swing plane and adversely affects both the power and speed of the club producing a weak shot.
5. The Hitting Zone Phase
In the fifth phase, the hitting zone phase, as seen in FIG. 22, the golfer attempts to get the hands as close as possible to being in-line directly above the ball while still maintaining the angle .beta. formed at set-up between the club shaft and the arms, the right wrist remains cocked and the back arm remains folded so that the stored energy of the swing is maintained until impact with the ball to ensure maximum energy transference from the club head to the ball.
6. The Impact Phase
In the sixth phase, the impact phase, as seen in FIG. 23, the club head is accelerated by a whipping action created by the straightening of the right arm, pronation of the right forearm and uncocking of the right wrist in a timely manner at a fixed point corresponding to the impact with the ball.
7. The Release Phase
In phase seven, the release phase, the right hand has turned over the left hand so that the club points toward the target. This ensures complete expenditure of the energy.
8. The Follow-Through Phase
In phase eight, the follow-through phase, the arms, trunk and body continue, by momentum, in the swing plane and path to complete the effective golf swing.
The optimal golf swing training device should have the ability to activate and train the trainable physiological components of the swing since they are inseparable and co-dependent. Sports-specific flexibility training is accomplished by the full range of motion movements comprising the physical task. Strength and power training requires exercise against a resistance, while muscular endurance requires repetition of the activity. Good balance is developed through repetitive proprioceptive training movements. Improved leverage is developed when the golfer adopts an effective sports-specific posture. Hand-to-eye coordination is improved by focused concentration and repetitive accomplishment of the task. Agility and coordination result from the integration of all the physiologic components of the movement.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Many attempts have been made to provide golf swing training and/or exercising devices to assist the golfer in developing an effective golf swing and in the strengthening of the muscles attuned to the golf swing. Known golf swing training and/or exercising devices implement restrictive control of the golfer's body movement, restrictive control of the golf club or restrictive control of a handle attachment in place of the golfer's club and/or combinations thereof. Since the golf swing is an individually varying movement, the restrictive control of the golfer, the golf club or a handle attachment is not a desirable feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,874 to Fitch attempts to achieve both objectives in a device where a user executes a simulated golf swing by rotating a parabolic-shaped arm against a spring-loaded resistance mechanism which offers minimum resistance when the swing motion is in the proper plane. However, this device has major inadequacies whose significance will be evident from the foregoing discussion, and which may be summarized as follows: restricting the swing to only a portion of a realistic full-range of motion golf swing; not providing means of visualizing the relationship of a club, from grip to club head, to the ball; pulling the user back into the top of the swing instead of allowing proper torsion of the shoulders, upper torso and hips; not adjusting for clubs of different length; not providing means to adjust swing plane and/or swing path; not providing means for delivering resistance to the large muscles of the trunk and legs for unwinding torsion in the upper body from the top down; not providing means of altering swing resistance at any point in the swing or throughout the full range of motion; and not providing indication of power, force or speed achieved during the various phases of a swing.
Another device which attempts to combine golf swing training with strengthening muscles used in the swing is U.S. Pat. No. 3,614,108 to Garten. The user swings a simulated golf club handle pivotally attached to an arm rotatably connected to a wall-mounted plate having adjustable inclination and adjustable frictional resistance, the arm rotating about an axis normal to the plate. In addition to having all the inadequacies of the Fitch device, the Garten device constrains the swing path to a circular arc rather than an eccentric arc as required for an ideal golf swing, and unrealistically generates resistance during the takeaway phase of the swing.
Yet another device which attempts to combine golf swing training with muscle strengthening is manufactured by Perfect Swing Trainer, Inc. of Orlando, Fla. A user swings a golf club while standing within a stationary planar ring. The ring is adjusted in inclination so as to match the inclination of the user's swing plane, and is adjusted in height so that the lowermost portion of the ring matches the club's "balance point" i.e., its center of mass. The user must maintain continuous contact between the club shaft and the ring during both the takeaway and the downswing. The club head is thereby constrained to move in a plane parallel to and near the ring plane. Optionally, an elastomeric cord may be attached between a point on the ring to one or the other of the user's hands. The particular hand and point of ring attachment determine which shoulder and arm muscles can be exercised during which segment of the swing.
Inadequacies of the Perfect Swing.TM. device include: The inability to set a proper swing path, failure to provide a resistance through the full range of motion, and failure to provide feedback to the golfer with respect to the exercise function of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,430 to Good, Jr. is directed to a device for exercising the principal sets of muscles used to play golf against a resistance force, while moving the muscles to simulate the manner in which they are moved during an actual golf swing. This device avoids the deficiencies of friction-type resistance units, viz., unpredictable jerkiness, maximum rather than minimum resistance at the beginning of a swing motion, and difficulty in accurately adjusting the resistance force during and throughout the swing motion, by incorporating a hydraulic torque resistance unit. A user manipulates a handle connected to a rotatable shaft extending axially from a hydraulic chamber which generates a progressively and smoothly increasing resistance torque as the rotational speed of the shaft increases. However, this device unrealistically delivers resistance in both directions of the golf swing, and does not train the swing, serving solely as an exercise device.
Other devices limited to training a golf swing are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,020 to Kane et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,000 to Cox; U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,573 to Richards; U.S. Pat. No. 3,415,523 to Boldt; U.S. Pat. No. 3,319,963 to Cockburn; U.S. Pat. No. 2,626,151 to Jenks; U.S. Pat. No. 2,318,408 to Beil et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,983,920 to Perin.
In view of the limitations of the above-cited devices, there has been a need for a device and/or technique whereby a user, whether he or she is a novice golfer, an intermediate golfer or an advanced golfer, can train the skills required for an effective golf swing. These skills include the grooving of the full range of motion swing plane and swing path and the timed linking of the eight phases of the golf swing to thereby deliver the maximum power at the point of impact of the club head with the ball, more commonly referred to as the swing tempo. Furthermore, there has been a need for a device that is sports-specific wherein the golfer utilizes his own clubs and actually strikes a ball. There has also been a need for a device that can exercise and thereby strengthen the muscles required to execute the golf swing and improve coordination and balance physiology of the golfer. There has also been a need for a device that provides a feedback to the golfer relating to his or her golf swing performance, thereby further enhancing learning.